


A Height of Problems

by carucath



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: (same with David Bradley), Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Richard Hurndall was a lot taller than Hartnell..., basically it annoys me that people act like one is way taller than two, like... Hartnell and Troughton were the same height, though this did get rather out of hand...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27438112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carucath/pseuds/carucath
Summary: Jamie is confused why everyone else thinks the First Doctor is taller than the Second, is it case of poor eyesight or is there something more sinister at work... and why has no-one else sensed it?
Relationships: ... not a lot but well..., Second Doctor & Jamie McCrimmon, Second Doctor/Jamie McCrimmon, because I can't write a Two and Jamie and NOT have them be a bit shippy, it's there - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Jamie stretched out his arms as he left the TARDIS. The TARDIS had landed in a large field. And large meant large. There was nothing else in sight but bright green grass and blue skies. The suns shone brightly overhead, causing the young Scot to cover his eyes.

“Don’t s’pose you get much weather like this where you’re from eh?”

Jamie turned around, Ben was smirking at him, indicating that he was speaking in jest. Ben was wearing tinted spectacles and handed Jamie an identical pair.  
“To help with the sun”, the young sailor explained. Jamie put on the spectacles and was taken aback by how much dimmer everything now looked. He was thankful he no longer had to squint however.  
“So where’s the Doctor and Polly? He’s usually the first one out”, Jamie asked. Ben tutted slightly.  
“Well the Duchess has gone to find the right outfit -- we don’t really get summers in London either -- and the Doctor has gone to find a suitable hat!”, Ben answered with mock indignation. He had known the Doctor, and Polly, longer than Jamie had and so seemed very unsurprised by the turn of events.  
“Well I hope they aren’t too long, I want tae look around!”

The Doctor and Polly both seemed to be indecisive that particular day as Jamie and Ben walked around by the TARDIS for almost half an hour. Ben was just about to cave to his impatience and yell at them to hurry when Polly emerged from the TARDIS in a white dress with red spots adorned to it, along with matching slip on shoes. She was also wearing the tinted spectacles -- ‘sunglasses’ Ben had called them. The Doctor followed her out, wearing the same oversized frock coat as usual but with ‘sunglasses’ and a large straw hat -- the brim of which was so wide Jamie could barely see his face.

“We’re on the Eye of Orion! Splendid”, the Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands together.  
The three companions all glanced at eachother in confusion.  
“Doctor, is there anything particularly special about the Eye of Orion?”, Polly asked. The Doctor clasped his hands together, almost looking like he had shrunk, and shook his head.  
“Well, no. It’s just very relaxing”, he admitted. Polly and Ben smiled.  
“Well ‘relaxing’ is exactly what we need right now! Better than Daleks or Cybermen any day!”, Ben said, Polly nodded enthusiastically.  
“I couldn’t agree more, which is not something I usually say about something Ben said”, she said, elbowing him gently. He scoffed mockingly and elbowed her back. Jamie nodded but said little, not really having anything to add.

The four travellers walked across the fields for about an hour, although there was little to see -- just grass as far as the eye could see. Eventually the Doctor decided that they should all sit down to have a picnic, sending Ben and Jamie to the TARDIS to fetch some chairs and towels while he and Polly set up the food. Jamie questioned how the Doctor would have sufficient food inside his pockets, Ben shrugged and told him it would take half a day for him to even understand the basics. Jamie nodded and conceded that he was right and dropped it.  
The foldable chairs were easy to find, being in the storage room which Jamie had been sure was not next to the console room but definitely was when he and Ben were searching for the chairs.  
“Look, you just don’t question certain things mate”, Ben said to him.

The picnic was very nice -- thankfully the food was proper food and not the weird cubes that Jamie had sometimes eaten in the TARDIS. It was fairly basic fare, even by Jamie’s standards, although the bread was the softest bread he had ever eaten!

Jamie stared contentedly at his surroundings, the Doctor reading a book about The History of Interstellar Travel, ‘light reading’ he’d called it. Jamie was not especially interested in reading himself, since he could only read in Beurla -- the language of the Sassanach. 

Ben and Polly had both dozed off at some point, Jamie wasn’t sure when. The Doctor stood up and tapped Jamie on the shoulder.  
“I’m just going to go to the TARDIS to get another book”, he whispered into Jamie’s ear, “Do you need anything?”. Jamie shook his head. The Doctor nodded and scarpered off. Jamie couldn’t help but smile as the older man did little air kicks as he walked back to the TARDIS, the Doctor was like a child sometimes. 

After a few moments Jamie noticed two figures running towards where the travellers had set up their picnic.

“I told you there were people here Steven!”, Jamie faintly heard a young woman exclaim.

As the female figure came closer into view, Jamie could see that she was more a girl than a woman, not looking any older than 16, with short black hair and wearing a bright blue dress with bright yellow tights and red boots. The man with her, and he definitely was a man, was tall with broad shoulders, wearing a black turtleneck jumper similar to the one Jamie himself was wearing -- although he was wearing a pair of trousers rather than a kilt. The man rolled his eyes at the girl.

“Yes, I can see them Dodo”, he said, his voice bearing more than a trace of irritation. The name seemed to prick Polly’s ears as she stirred.  
“Dodo?”, she mumbled. She opened her eyes and jumped out of her seat.  
“Dodo?! What are you doing here?!”, she called out, causing Ben to also wake up. The young girl looked at the tall blonde woman with confusion.  
“How do you know me?”, Dodo asked. Ben rushed over to the girl.  
“‘Ere! It’s us Dodo! Don’t you remember, back in London -- in 1966? We met at the Inferno!”, Ben exclaimed to the confused teenager. The young man placed his hands on her shoulders.  
“Look, I don’t know who you are but you must have her confused for someone else! She doesn’t know you”, he said protectively. Jamie frowned, but said nothing. He didn’t know this ‘Dodo’ but maybe Ben and Polly had met her?

“Look mate”, Ben said to the much taller man, “We ‘ave met her before!”. He then turned to Dodo again, softening his expression, “Don’t you remember? You were with the Doctor and you were hypnotised by WOTAN? The Doctor sorted you out, like he always does”, he said. Dodo frowned and shook her head. Polly looked at Ben concernedly.  
“Maybe the incident affected her memories?”, she asked the sailor. He nodded.  
“It’s possible”, he said. Steven glared at the two.  
“Look, how do you two know the Doctor?”, he asked. Ben and Polly’s eyes widened.  
“Wait, you know the Doctor too?”, Polly asked. Steven nodded.  
“Yes”, Steven answered tersely. 

The man simply glowered at Ben and Polly while keeping his hands on his young friend’s shoulders. Jamie couldn’t really blame him, if two random people acted like they knew a young friend of his he’d be pretty angry and protective too. 

The group stood in silence until Polly snapped her fingers.

“Wait”, she started, “What does the Doctor look like?”, she asked, looking at Steven. Dodo opened her mouth.  
“Well he’s about average height for a man, he’s pretty old with long white hair and he dresses like he’s from the 1900s with a wicked cloak!”, she answered. Jamie frowned at the answer.  
“But the Doctor dinnae look like that!”, he exclaimed. Polly nodded.  
“Not now, no -- but he did when Ben and I met him”, she said. She gave Ben a knowing look, he looked at her in confusion before nodding in understanding.  
“Ah, I get it -- this is before Dodo met us! Of course, we do travel in time and space!”, he said, placing a hand on his head. He then paused.  
“But ‘ang on Duchess, if she’d met us now ‘ow come she didn’t recognise us when we met her in London?”.  
“That’s a good question young man, and I have quite a few for you three in kind”.

Jamie instinctively took a step back as he saw the old man who had seemingly appeared from nowhere. His cloak wasn’t really wicked but it certainly was rather impressive in material design, being rather long and giving the man a dynamic looking pose. Jamie turned to his friends, both of whom looked like they had seen a ghost. Dodo smiled at the old man.  
“There you are Doctor! You’ve been gone for ages, we were looking for you everywhere!”, she exclaimed. The old man nodded briefly to the girl.  
“Yes, well I’m here now”, he said before turning to Jamie, Ben and Polly.

“Well don’t gawk at me like that! It’s most rude!”, the old man exclaimed. He then pointed his cane towards Jamie’s face. Jamie was almost sure he saw the old man smirk while he did so.  
“Well young man, explain yourself and your friends! How do you know who we are?”, he asked. Jamie wringed his hands, something he had picked up from his Doctor.  
“Well, I dinnae know who you or those two are”, he said, indicating to Dodo and Steven, “But Polly and Ben seemed tae have met ye in yer future and their past, I think?”, he explained, not quite understanding the implications himself. 

The old man lowered his cane to the grass below.  
“Yes, I gathered that part -- what I haven’t gathered is where I am?”, the old man said. Jamie frowned.  
“But yer right there, where else would ye be?”, he asked. The man hrmph’d and clutched the edges of his cloak.  
“Well Jamie, I would be right here”

Jamie turned to see his Doctor awkwardly holding a copy of War and Peace under his left arm. The dark haired man decided on placing it on one of the chairs before turning back to the others.  
The two older men stared at eachother. They seemed to be roughly the same height and Jamie could see how his Doctor looked like a younger, messier version of the older man -- even though it appeared that his Doctor was in fact the older one.

“Goodness me! It appears I have shrunken into a clown! Couldn’t you at least have found some clothes that fit?”, the older but also younger Doctor asked the younger but also older Doctor, the disapproval obvious in his voice. Jamie frowned. Jamie’s Doctor wringed his hands and smiled sheepishly at his former self.  
“Yes, quite. Though I wouldn’t call myself a clown, just that perhaps I’ve become more free spirited?”, he said, not sounding completely certain himself. The white haired Doctor said nothing, he didn’t really need to, his irritation was obvious just by his eyes. 

Jamie tapped his Doctor’s shoulder.  
“Doctor? Why would the old man say he’s shrunk? Yer both the same height”, he asked. Jamie’s Doctor chuckled. Behind him, Ben and Polly folded their arms and raised an eyebrow at Jamie. Dodo and Steven did likewise.  
“Well that’s very kind of you Jamie, but alas my first regeneration caused me to lose a few inches of height”, he said, patting the young Scot’s face. Jamie scanned the two Doctors and shook his head.  
“No! Yer definitely the same height!”, he exclaimed. Polly walked over to Jamie, and pushed him slightly so that she stood where he had been. She peered at the two men, even taking off her sunglasses, and then shook her head.  
“No, the earlier Doctor is definitely taller -- by quite a fair bit!”, she said. She turned to Jamie, frowning with concern.  
“Are you alright Jamie? Are you feeling dizzy or anything?”, she asked, putting a hand on his forehead. He brushed her hand off.  
“Yeah I’m fine! Just that I dinnae know what everyone else is seeing! They’re clearly the same height!”, he protested. 

Steven walked over to Jamie, examining him -- this caused Jamie to blush.  
“Maybe he’s short sighted?”, he asked Polly. Jamie folded his arms.  
“No I’m not!”, he said defensively, “I wouldnae been allowed to fight against the Redcoats if I was!”.  
“Who are the Redcoats?”, Dodo asked, standing behind Steven.  
“The British army”, Ben explained, “We met Jamie after the battle of Culloden in 1745”.  
“Oh cool! So he’s a Jacobite!”, the teenager said excitedly. Jamie frowned at the girl.  
“No, I wouldn’t say ‘cool’ Dodo”, Jamie’s Doctor said gently, “The aftermath of war is not a pleasant experience”. Jamie smiled at the Doctor -- he always knew what to say. Jamie noticed Steven nodding at the dark haired Doctor, as if he understood in some way too.

Jamie’s Doctor then turned to him.  
“Steven does have a point though -- why do you see me and… me as the same height?”, the Doctor asked his young friend.  
“Because ye are!”, he exclaimed with frustration at everyone else.  
“Look mate, Pol and me were there when the Doctor changed -- he definitely shrunk. Like, his cloak was way too big for ‘im and ‘is ring fell off his finger!”, Ben said. Ben turned to the older Doctor.  
“‘Ere Doctor, could you lend the other you your cape?”, Ben asked.  
“Well I don’t see why I should! Clearly the important question is why we’re both here?”, the white haired Doctor protested, “That may take some time to discover”, he added. The old man looked at the Scot intensely, staring into his eyes, before suddenly turning away and shrugging.  
“Well I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm”, he said, taking off his cloak and handing it to his other self.

As the dark haired Doctor wrapped the cape around himself, it… grew, lengthened, expanded. Jamie could not believe his eyes, it was magic! He looked back at the white haired Doctor, who was smiling contentedly.  
“See Jamie”, Ben said, grabbing his friend’s shoulder, turning him to face his Doctor, “Told ya the Doctor shrunk! The cloak is massive on ‘im!”. Jamie shook his head.  
“No, did ye not see? The cloak grew as it wrapped around him!”, Jamie exclaimed. Jamie’s Doctor looked at his young friend with concern.  
“Are you alright Jamie? Have you had enough sleep?”, he asked the Highlander. Jamie nodded vehemently -- while at first his nights in the TARDIS had been restless, this was no longer a problem. He turned to the white haired Doctor. 

The old man snarled at him. Jamie gasped.  
“Yer not the Doctor! Yer a faerie!”, he said accusingly. Before anyone could react, he pulled his knife from his sporran and jumped at the old man.  
“Jamie! What are you doing?!”, Polly cried. He ignored his friend, if he could just…

*PUNCH*

Steven punched the Highlander square in the face, the force caused Jamie to fall back and crash to the ground. The surroundings were beginning to fade around him.

“Ah! Good work Steven!”, Jamie heard the white haired ‘Doctor’ exclaim.  
“No problem, Doctor -- I just don’t understand why he would attack you?”, Steven asked.  
“Well Jamie can get rather hot tempered”, Polly suggested, “But he wouldn’t attack someone just because he’s confused”.  
“Well it doesn’t really matter now does it?”, the white haired man said quickly, “We need to discover why we’re all here -- it must be important if we’re both here”.  
“Yes”, the Doctor said, “I’ll have to have a chat with Jamie once this has been sorted out”. After that, the voices around him began to fade.

Jamie opened his eyes. It was completely dark -- he thought he was still in the field but it was hard to tell. His friends were nowhere in sight, no-one was. He stood up unsteadily. He looked around.  
“Doctor! Ben! Polly! Where are ye?”, he yelled. No response. He tried again. And again.

“They won’t be coming for you”, the white haired man’s voice said. He then appeared from nowhere.  
“Faerie”, Jamie hissed. The old man chuckled.  
“Yes, I had not expected to meet anyone so resilient -- or to even know who I am”, he said. “No matter. You are unimportant”, he added coldly. Before Jamie could react, a bright light appeared from the man’s eyes and engulfed the young Scot’s entire body.  
“Argh!”, he screamed, writhing in pain. The old man smiled cruelly.

“Goodbye, you won’t be missed”


	2. Faeries and Numbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie lands in a very different place... but surely his friends will notice his disappearance?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry that this has taken so long to update! I have been working on this on and off for a few months. Slumps are annoying! I've finished it now, so I hope you all enjoy! (It ended up a LOT longer than I meant it to be!)

Jamie stumbled to his feet. He was in a very different place, it was so… dreamlike, it was like nothing he had been before. Not even the farthest planets in the galaxy had been so  _ strange  _ before.

Of course! The faerie! He was in the land of the faeries! He was trapped! He’d never seen Ben, or Polly or especially the  _ Doctor  _ again! 

His legs began to shake, and he felt tears coming from his eyes.  _ No, I cannae cry now. There  _ **_must_ ** _ be a way out of here. _

He began walking, he considered leaving a trail of some sort but didn’t see much point, it all looked the same and he doubted where he started would lead to anywhere of importance. 

After a vague amount of time, it could have been a matter of minutes or hours, Jamie heard a low hum. He followed the hum, until it became the sound of chatter and then it became distinct words! Everyone was speaking in English, rather than Gaelic. He  _ knew  _ that he merely heard Gaelic when they were in fact speaking in English but the fact he was now hearing English must have meant he was far away from the TARDIS. The noise was coming from a bright white orb, that glowed so brightly it almost hurt his eyes to look at it. However, the sound of his friends’ voices, albeit in English, was stronger to him than the brightness of the light.

Once he reached the orb, the bright light dissipated and he could see his friends. The angle was strange, as the Doctor was looking up and talking to him.

“I still don’t know why we’re both on the Eye of Orion so surely a telepathic contact would be the quickest way to get on the same page?”, the Doctor said, sounding impatient. Whoever the Doctor was speaking to then replied.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible, we’re on the Eye of Orion -- where telepathy is impossible! That’s why it’s the most relaxing place in the universe! Surely I haven’t forgotten that?”, an unfamiliar voice replied. The Doctor frowned.

“I thought it was just a case of telepathy being impossible without physical contact?”, the Doctor retorted. Jamie’s view then shifted temporarily from left to right -- whoever’s view he had had just shaken his head.

“No, telepathy is completely impossible!”, the voice stated. The Doctor frowned, before his eyes glazed for a few moments -- at which point he nodded.

“Oh yes, of course”, the Doctor said, “Silly me”. 

_ Oh no. The faerie is clearly hypnotising the Doctor! _

Jamie shook the orb, this achieved nothing. 

“Ach!”, he yelled. He stared at the orb again, willing for the Doctor to see him -- even though he knew that was impossible.

Jamie stroked the orb which still showed the Doctor’s face. He sighed sombrely.

“Doctor… I’m right here”, he whispered.

_ *Creak* _

Jamie jumped. He looked around for somewhere to hide. The area was disorientating to observe, so he took his chances going back where had come from -- the only way he could  _ see  _ to get out but the noise was coming from the other side of the ‘room’. It definitely  _ was  _ a room, there was a ceiling and the space was enclosed, it was just hard to properly discern how big it was.

Two ethereal creatures emerged, their forms were strange. They were tall and had long limbs, with flowing white robes and their bodies emitted a soft glow. Noises came from them that Jamie couldn’t understand. It didn’t sound like a foreign language to him, they weren’t saying  _ words _ . Jamie knew what  _ words _ , even words he didn’t understand, sounded like. There were no hard ends to any sentence, they were communicating in hums. The two creatures -- no,  _ faeries _ \-- looked down at the orb and they began communicating again. Whatever they were, Jamie knew they weren’t friendly.

Jamie stayed where he was for an age. The two faeries took a long time walking around the room, making humming noises and looking at the orb. After what could have been a day for Jamie, although in reality more like an hour, the faeries moved in Jamie’s direction. Jamie tried not to shake as he saw their faces -- completely white with completely black eyes. He could not see any nose or mouth. Jamie clutched his knife.

The two faeries clearly saw him and Jamie regretted feeling amiss about a lack of mouth -- deep, dripping fangs appeared as soon as he was in their view.

“Stand back! Yer no’ gonna eat me! I have a knife -- it’s made of iron!”, he yelled, pointing his knife in their direction. The fangs disappeared and the two stepped back.

“Who are ye? I know yer faeries, but what do ye want with my friends?”, Jamie asked, keeping his knife pointed towards the faeries. The two hummed to each other before one raised a ‘hand’.

“We want the Doctor for his power, we don’t intend to harm your other friends -- they are unimportant. You will come with us”, the hand said. Well, it appeared to Jamie that the hand had been speaking to him anyway.

“Why should I? I have my knife”

“That is true, but you have nowhere to go. You are trapped here”, the hand explained. Jamie sighed, that was true. What else could he do? If things got bad he could always attack them with his knife.

“Alright”, he said reluctantly.

Steven had the strange suspicion something was off. No, it wasn’t the Doctor being more irritable and rude than usual. Nor was it that the Doctor could change his appearance into a younger man -- younger, not  _ young _ . It wasn’t  _ even  _ the fact that there seemed to be something keeping the two TARDISs from leaving the planet they were on that neither Doctor could explain…

It was that his fist was bruised.

He hadn’t been in any fights recently, and his nightmares had stopped recently so he hadn’t pounded on the wall in his bedroom. He didn’t recall injuring it either. The Doctor had theorised that he must have bashed it against something but he simply hadn’t noticed. For some reason, Steven found himself doubting the Doctor.

The group of six had walked around the mass of fields for hours. They had camped out for the night before continuing their journey. What they were actually looking for, no-one really knew. But the white haired Doctor was insistent that they scour the planet as there must be  _ something  _ that drew them together. There  _ must  _ be something.

“Doctor can we rest for a bit?”, Polly asked, her legs beginning to give way. Ben caught her before she fell.

“Yeah, I think we should Doctor -- it’s not just the Duchess who could do with a rest”, Ben said. The Doctor nodded.

“Yes, I think that would be a good idea. We could probably do with something to eat as well!”, he said. Dodo and Steven nodded eagerly to this. The white haired man hrmphed but agreed.

“I suppose that would be fine”.

The six travellers were treated to a veritable feast of treats from the Doctor’s vast pockets.

“How come your pockets don’t have tons of cool gear in them Doctor?”, Dodo asked the white haired man. He scoffed.

“I’m not in the habit of clowning around with junk in my pockets”, he said. The Doctor flushed with embarrassment.

“Well it has come in useful”, Polly rebutted defensively. She didn’t remember this Doctor being so judgemental!

“Oh, it’s alright Polly. Sometimes we disapprove of what we’re like in the future, it’s a natural part of lives”, the Doctor said gently. “Why don’t I play us a little tune before we go?”. Ben groaned.

“Oh no Doctor, me and Jamie hid all of your recorders. There’s no way you found them!”, Ben exclaimed. Dodo frowned.

“Who’s Jamie?”, she asked. Ben rubbed his forehead.

“I… I dunno”, Ben answered. Polly’s eyes lit up.

“Oh Ben, you remember Jamie! We met him when we were in 18th century Scotland -- he waved us off when we left!”, Polly explained. Ben nodded.

“Ah, yes! Of course!”. The Doctor tapped his fingers.

“But why would you say he helped you hide my recorders? He never entered the TARDIS”, the Doctor asked.

Steven looked at his fist.  _ Jamie _ . Why was that familiar to him? 

The white haired man tapped his walking stick to the ground. He waved his hands around a few times as the five travellers froze into place.

“You weren’t talking about anyone called Jamie. None of you know anyone called Jamie”, the white haired man said soothingly.

Jamie kept a firm grip on his knife, the only thing keeping him safe. The way the faeries moved was just as dreamlike as the rest of their realm. Jamie had to keep pinching himself just to keep himself alert, he knew he  _ couldn’t _ be lulled by these malevolent forces.

“Ah, you’re back. What’s kept you this time, hm?”, a familiar voice called out. 

The faeries hummed to each other and turned to Jamie.

“You will stay here until we decide what to do with you, you cannot leave”, one of them commanded. The faeries then glided away from the space they had left the Highlander in, leaving a stone barrier in their wake. Once they were gone, Jamie saw the other figure more clearly.

He gasped. 

The faerie! He must be the leader! He must be there to interrogate Jamie! Jamie ran up to the old man, and put his knife to his throat.

“What have ye done with the Doctor? I saw what ye were doin’ -- hypnotisin’ him. If ye do that again, well this knife will end up somewhere else!”, Jamie growled. The old man clutched at the lapels of his jacket.

“My dear young man, who on whatever planet we’re on are you? And please remove your knife from my neck if you would be so kind?”, the old man barked. Jamie frowned.

“Don’t play fool with me,  _ faerie.  _ Ye told me what ye were when ye sent me here!”, Jamie snapped. The old man sighed.

“Young man, if it isn’t obvious to you --  _ I am a prisoner too _ ”, the old man explained, irritation obvious in his voice. Jamie stepped back. It wasn’t immediately clear but he saw that the old man’s feet were locked into place even if the rest of him could seemingly move freely.

“But ye look just like the faerie”, Jamie said, numbly.  _ If this wasn’t the leader of the faeries, who was he? _ The old man smiled wryly.

“Ah, s-so it seems that one of them has been impersonating me, has it?”, the old man asked. Jamie nodded.

“But it was strange, because everyone else thought he was taller than the Doctor but ye were the same height!”, Jamie explained. The old man chuckled.

“Now that sounds very amusing”, he said, his lips then pursed together grimly, “I see these beings are very intelligent, not only impersonating me but making subtle changes so that if I somehow escaped even my own friends and even family wouldn’t recognise me!”. He then peered at the young Highlander.

“But it seems you saw through it, and saw not  _ what _ they were projecting but  _ who  _ they had based the form from. But why you? You called those creatures ‘faeries’ -- from human folk tales?”, the old man asked. Jamie nodded.

“Aye, because that’s what they are. They even said so to me!”, Jamie answered indignantly. The old man considered what the young Scot said.

“I suppose folk tales and myths must come from something, and if that is what they call themselves then I suppose that is what they are”.

Jamie eyed up the old man. Polly and Ben recognised him as the Doctor, so had the Doctor himself. So, if he wasn’t a faerie… there was only one other thing he could be.

“So, are ye the Doctor too? An earlier one?”, Jamie asked tentatively.

“I most certainly am! So, you travel with a replacement of mine?”, the Doctor asked. Jamie frowned.

“Polly said ye transformed into him! I dinnae think that’s a replacement -- or is it with yer species?”. The Doctor giggled.

“Ooh hoo! My  _ immediate  _ successor, that will be intriguing to see!”, the Doctor said, he then stroked his chin with his hand, “Well it’s a kind of replacement, it would be very difficult to ascertain- _ explain _ . But he is who I will be and I am who he was. Do you understand, uh… what exactly is your name young man?”.

“James Robert McCrimmon -- although everyone calls me Jamie”, Jamie answered. He didn’t bother saying that he didn’t really understand, because he never really did with the Doctor.

“Nice to meet you James”, the Doctor said, before leaning forward as much as he could, “Now, how do we get out of here?”

Steven rubbed his fist. He still couldn’t wrap his head around what had happened to it. His legs were starting to feel very sore -- it wasn’t just him, everyone else was struggling. Well, everyone except for the Doctor -- only  _ his  _ Doctor. The other Doctor was lagging as much as everybody else. Steven couldn’t understand it, the Doctor was  _ old _ . And while he certainly had a youthful exuberance at times, his body was very much  _ old _ . Yet he did not appear tired at all.

Steven was sure he was forgetting something… or  _ someone _ . His memory hadn’t really been the same since his two years on Mechanus. After 737 days in complete isolation doing the same thing day after day Steven had been surprised, and concerned at what had slipped away from him. He could recall an entire day where he had counted every single speck of dirt on his shoe but what his parents looked like, and they had only passed away a year before he had crashed on Mechanus, had become elusive. 

However, even with all of that -- he couldn’t have just  _ forgotten  _ meeting someone? Recently?  _ Very  _ recently.

Jamie tried picking at whatever was keeping the old Doctor’s feet in place, it wasn’t something that was completely visible -- but it was thick,  _ very  _ thick. The iron knife  _ could  _ penetrate it, but it simply was not long enough to get down to the bottom.

“Ach!”, he scoffed, “It’s no’ workin’!”.

“Yes, I can see that young man!”, the Doctor exclaimed. Jamie stood back up, slumping his shoulders.

“So what do we do?”, Jamie asked. 

“I-I don’t know”, the Doctor admitted, “Even if you do free me I haven’t the faintest clue how we’ll leave this realm”.

Jamie tried not to show his shock. This was the Doctor! He always had a plan -- or thought on his feet!

“I’m sure ye will think of somethin’ Doctor! Ye always do!”, Jamie asserted confidently. The Doctor couldn’t help but smile at the young Scottish lad.

“You have a lot of faith in me, considering you were about to kill me half an hour ago”, the Doctor said incredulously.

“Well, ye still are the Doctor. Or at least I think ye are”, Jamie said, shrugging. The Doctor said nothing, he hadn’t met anyone who had  _ so _ much faith in him since…

“Susan”

Jamie frowned.

“Who’s ‘Susan’?”, Jamie asked. 

“My g-granddaughter. She’s currently far away from here”, the Doctor answered wistfully.

“Oh, I dinnae realised ye had a granddaughter”, Jamie admitted. The Doctor smiled sadly.

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t. Steven didn’t know who she was, he was rather confused when I said that dear Dodo looks a lot like her -- you’ve met Dodo haven’t you?”. Jamie nodded.

“Oh aye, nice lassie”, he said.

“Yes, she is, isn't she?”, the Doctor said, “She isn’t exactly like Susan -- Susan was less… eccentric and more observant, but they’re both brave and kind young women. Oh, I am an old sentimental fool sometimes!”.

“Nothin’ wrong with missin’ yer family”, Jamie said.

“No, it’s not that. The whole reason I’m even here is that the blasted faerie appeared as Susan to me! She looked lost so I went to her, it was only when I hugged her that I saw the glowing light and ended up here!”

“Ah, that makes sense. I think Steven and Dodo said somethin’ about ye bein’ missing before ye appeared”, Jamie said. The Doctor nodded, but said nothing more. He really had no idea of what to do.

“Oh no!”

Steven turned around. The other Doctor had collapsed to the ground. He ran over, helping Ben carry the now semi-conscious man.

“Can we rest Doctor?”, Dodo asked. “The poor man looks ragged!”. The white haired man shrugged.

“I suppose so”, he said. Steven frowned. The Doctor usually had some concern if someone wasn’t well. It could just be the stress, he supposed. His mysterious bruise still throbbed on his hand. Well, they were all just going to have to keep going. That’s what the Doctor said.

Jamie tried jabbing his knife through the lock around the Doctor’s feet. If only he had an iron sword, or even a horseshoe! 

Jamie thought back to the Cybermen -- nasty beasties, or perhaps they were merely metal faeries. How had Ben and Polly stopped them? With some kind of potion. But Jamie didn’t have a potion, or any holy water. But he did know  _ his  _ Doctor kept odd items in his pockets. Maybe this one did too? The faerie Doctor hadn’t, but of course a faerie wouldn’t keep dangerous items near them, would they?

“Hey Doctor”, Jamie whispered. The Doctor turned to the young Scot, intrigued.

“Do ye have any salt? In yer pockets?”, Jamie asked. The Doctor looked at Jamie, rather confused.

“Why, young man? I know salt  _ can  _ corrode materials but it would take a long time for it to affect a lock”, the Doctor said. Jamie sighed, did the Doctor not know anything about faeries?

“Salt can repel faeries! If we sprinkle some on yer feet, ye’ll be free!”, Jamie explained. The Doctor grumbled at the absurdity of the plan, before conceding he didn’t have a better one. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out several sachets of salt.

“Yes, Susan took me to this dreadful restaurant where the food was so bad I had to cover it on salt just so it was edible! I decided to take some with me just in case something like that happened again”, he explained, although Jamie wasn’t listening. He knew that paper sachets contained salt from the time Ben and Polly showed him a ‘McDonalds’ in the year 2000 -- Jamie was glad that a loyalist clan would be successful in the future.

Jamie poured the salt on the lock. Just as he expected in a faerie realm, the lock dissolved and the Doctor was free. Well, free from his lock. But now the pair had more than Jamie’s iron knife as a weapon.

“So what do we do?”, Jamie asked. The Doctor shook his head.

“I haven’t the faintest idea, my boy”, the Doctor said sadly, “The best thing we can do is wait for the ‘faeries’ to come back, they seem to be doing that every few hours -- or, at least it feels like a few hours”.

The other Doctor had fallen completely unconscious, there was nothing anyone else could do to stir him.

“This isn’t like him at all”, Polly said, “I remember the Doctor would sometimes collapse when he was, well different but since he changed he’s had so much energy”.

“Yeah, your right Duchess. This is really weird. And I’m surprised ‘e’s not fallen over yet -- ‘e’s so old and yet even I’m more tired than ‘e seems to be!”. Steven nodded in agreement, the Doctor  _ did  _ seem to have more consistent energy than usual. The events on Kembel seemed to have really drained him…

_ Drained.  _

Steven looked closer at the unconscious Doctor, he looked drained. Steven couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something  _ unnatural  _ about the Doctor’s unconsciousness. He shut his eyes and remembered how the Doctor had looked immediately after the Time Destructor had been destroyed. Old, frail, drained… shorter? No, that couldn’t be right. Jamie had been right! Wait, who was Jamie? Steven looked down at his fist.  _ Of course _ . He’d punched him! 

Steven looked at the ‘Doctor’ more closely -- he looked more familiar, shorter, with a thinner face and whiter hair. Wait. Why did his appearance look different?

The white haired man stared at the space pilot coldly.

“Steven, what is wrong with you?”, he asked.

“Oh… nothing Doctor. Just that, where’s Jamie?”. The white haired man’s eyes glowed.

“You  _ do not  _ know anyone called Jamie”, he asserted. No-one else seemed to be paying attention to what he was doing or saying. Steven frowned.

“But I do”.

“Drat”, the white haired man muttered, before sauntering off.

Steven stared at him in horror. He  _ was  _ an impersonator! The real Doctor was missing! But why would whoever this person was project a different image than what they were impersonating? Jamie had seen the inconsistency and had now disappeared… from everyone’s memories it seemed. Steven needed to do something! But what could he do?

There was a loud screech. Jamie and the Doctor covered their ears.

“Ach! What is that?”, Jamie asked. Before the Doctor could answer, the faeries re-entered the room. They seemed preoccupied with something as they merely passed through, humming to each other. Although Jamie couldn’t understand them, he could sense that they were anxious about something.

“Ah! They’ve forgotten to close the door behind them, let’s follow them my dear boy! I think this could be our chance!”, the Doctor exclaimed. The two men rushed to follow the faeries.

Once Jamie and the Doctor reached the door, there was a bright flash of light. He covered his eyes due to the intensity. Once the light dissipated, he uncovered his eyes. There was nothing there! Except…

“Where have those faeries gone, hmm? They’ve just vanished!”, the Doctor muttered, clutching his lapels. While speaking loud enough for Jamie to hear him, he appeared to be talking to himself more than the young Highlander. The Doctor strode over to where the bright light had come from.

“Doctor, don’t!”, Jamie yelled.

“Don’t what my dear boy?”, the Doctor asked irritatedly.

“Don’t step into the faerie ring! You’ll be trapped forever!”, Jamie explained with much agitation. He pointed to the stone ring the Doctor had almost stepped into. The Doctor scoffed.

“I don’t believe so, young man”, the Doctor rebuffed. “I believe this ‘faerie ring’ is a teleportation device, it may take us back to our friends!”. He disregarded the young Scot and stepped into the ring.

The bright light appeared again, and the Doctor disappeared.

Jamie’s legs wobbled. 

“I cannae leave the old man to fend for himself… but I cannae go into a faerie ring”, Jamie muttered to himself. But surely he would be trapped either way? 

Jamie took a deep breath, and followed the Doctor into the unknown.


	3. Returning to the Normal Realm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie and the First Doctor have returned from the faerie realm, but can they save the increasingly suspicious Steven? And what is up with Dodo?

Despite Ben and Polly’s best efforts, they could not wake the sleeping Doctor. The white haired ‘Doctor’ had suggested that they all split up to see if they could find help. Ben had suggested they go back to the TARDIS, but the semi-entranced travellers had promptly forgotten such a suggestion, including Ben himself. 

“Now Ben, you try searching west, Dodo you try searching east, Polly, you try searching south and…  _ Steven _ , you try searching north”, he commanded. Steven considered protesting, leaving whoever this man was with a man he was sure  _ was  _ the Doctor didn’t seem very wise. But there was…  _ something  _ about this man that made Steven too nervous to do so. He would have to appear to head off and maybe talk to Dodo alone, somehow.

The four young travellers headed off in their separate directions. To Steven’s dismay, Dodo disappeared from his eyeline before the ‘Doctor’. He sighed. He would have to confront this imposter Doctor, there was nothing else he could do!

_ “Steven?” _

Steven stopped.

“Katarina? Sara?”, he said.  _ No, Katarina and Sara are dead. _

“Is this the temple of paradise?”, a voice asked. It sounded  _ just  _ like Katarina.  _ It must be her, maybe she could have survived… _

Standing before him  _ was  _ Katarina, stood next to her was Sara Kingdom. They smiled at him.

“It’s been a long time”, Sara said. Steven’s eyes began to water. Steven instinctively walked over, to give his long lost friends a hug…

“No! Steven, it’s a trap! Whoever you think they are, they aren’t!”, a man… the  _ Doctor _ , shouted. Steven froze. ‘Katarina’ and ‘Sara’ disappeared, and what appeared were two strange creatures, whatever they were, they weren’t human. He stepped back, but a bright light surrounded him.

“Argh!”, he yelled, writhing in pain. He felt his body begin to disseminate, like the time he had been teleported to Mira. No… that couldn’t be happening again…

“Craeg an tuire!”

The light faltered, Steven saw one of the creatures fall to the ground. Before anyone else could react, Jamie pulled the dagger from the creature and stabbed the other one. The light completely disappeared, and Steven collapsed to the ground.

“Steven?”, the Doctor said worriedly. Steven opened his eyes.  _ The Doctor!  _ Steven struggled to sit up.

“Doctor! Is that really you?”, Steven asked anxiously. The Doctor nodded and gestured to Jamie to help the young pilot to his feet.

“Jamie? I punched you, didn’t I?”, Steven said, as if he wasn’t sure. Jamie scoffed.

“Aye, ye did”, he said.

“You… you  _ knew  _ the other Doctor was a fake, didn’t you?”, he asked. Jamie nodded.

“He’s a faerie”, Jamie replied simply, “So, the only way to defeat a faerie is to stab it with an iron blade -- like my knife, or some salt will also do the trick”. Steven frowned.

“A fairy? But those aren’t real!”, Steven protested.

“They’re as real as the Toymaker, my dear boy”, the Doctor pointed out. Steven thought of several counterpoints, but realised that none really held up to scrutiny -- he could only concede that faeries were indeed real.

“What do we do then? The other Doctor is completely unconscious! I think the imposter has him under a trance or something, he’s completely unconscious!”, Steven said. Jamie gasped.

“The Doctor… is in a faerie trance? Oh no… he’s no’ going to wake up!”, the young Scot muttered. He suppressed the tears that he could feel welling up.

“Where are the others? Are they with him?”, the Doctor asked. Steven shook his head.

“No, he sent us all off in different directions -- oh no, are they going to fall into a trap too?”. The Doctor looked away from his friend.

“I don’t know Steven, I don’t know”, he answered softly. He then stiffened his back and clutched his lapels. “I do know that we must stop my imposter as soon as possible!”, he stated, his voice now booming. Steven nodded and led the Doctor and Jamie back from where he had come. Jamie could only hope that it wouldn’t be too late.

To Steven’s relief, the others were with the imposter.

“I assume they haven’t aroused suspicion yet”, the Doctor muttered. Jamie’s fist clenched his knife tightly. Ben, Polly and Dodo were too close to the faerie for him to get a good throw of his knife, he didn’t want to hurt his friends -- or the young lassie who Ben and Polly knew. The Scot leant close to the Doctor.

“What’s the plan? We need to get close to the faerie so I can put my knife through him”, Jamie whispered. The Doctor brushed him off.

“Young man, you don’t need to get so close! Now, don’t you want to know the faerie’s plane -- I mean plan? Hmm?”, the Doctor said. 

“No’ really, I ken all about faeries -- they’re evil. The sooner we stop them, the better!”, Jamie replied. It was until he stomped his foot that he realised the white haired man had already gone off to confront his faerie imposter.

“Oh no!”, Jamie muttered. Steven gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“He’s always like this I’m afraid”, he said. The two young men rushed to catch up with the Doctor.

Dodo was sure she was forgetting something. Something important. She’d already had a shock at meeting two people who she would apparently meet in the future. Time travel was a very funny business indeed. Neither her, nor Ben or Polly had been successful in finding any help. There were just fields abound. She was sure she had seen the TARDIS -- whose TARDIS it was she wasn’t sure but she’d seen it! The other Doctor could have been mistaken for dead, she was only sure he wasn’t because her Doctor had been very adamant that he wasn’t. And the Doctor knew what he was talking about -- right? She sat down. She began to slump over. She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but she was very tired…

“Now! Who do you think you are?!”

Dodo stood up suddenly. As did Ben and Polly -- who also had been on the verge of sleeping. There was a man, who had a faint resemblance to the Doctor. Except he was much shorter -- about the same height as the black haired Doctor. His face also seemed… simultaneously harsher but she was sure she could see a twinkle in his eyes. She turned back to the icy glare of the Doctor she knew. Yes, there was an imposter!

“‘Ere! Who do you think you are mate?”, Ben said, striding to the Doctor.

“ _ I  _ am the Doctor. Now, out of my way young man!”, the Doctor exclaimed, brushing the young sailor aside. Ben roughly grabbed the Doctor’s coat, gripping it firmly. The Doctor was stuck in the grasp of the impressively strong Ben Jackson.

“Ben! That’s the real Doctor! Don’t you see!”, Jamie yelled as he ran towards them. He shoved his friend to floor, rougher than he would have liked to but there wasn’t much time!

“That was very foolish of ye”, Jamie yelled at the Doctor, “ _ My  _ Doctor wouldna’ been so reckless!”. 

“Now’s not the time Jamie”, Steven reminded him. The Doctor huffed. Ben rose to his feet and frowned.

“Who the ‘ell are you? ‘Ow do you know my name?”, Ben asked, staring most pointedly at Jamie. Jamie’s shoulder slumped. Of course the faerie had erased Ben’s memory. There would be little use in convincing Ben of the truth. Now, he just needed to get to the faerie…

“Come back Ben”, the faerie commanded. Ben’s eyes glazed over and he obeyed. Before Jamie could react, he saw a familiar shining light. He jumped out of it.

“Move out of the light!”, he shouted. Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of the faerie -- who froze Jamie in place. Quickly followed by Steven and the Doctor.

*thump*

Jamie cursed profusely in his mind as he saw his knife fall to the ground.

“Who are these three Doctor?”, Polly asked.

“Saboteurs! They are clearly the cause of my future incarnation’s dreadful state! It seems that coming too close to the victim of their attack has backfired and left them frozen”.

“Well, what do we do about them Doctor?”, Ben asked.

“You three take guard, in case any others come. I shall be having a quick chat”.

Jamie wished he could growl as the faerie walked nearer.

“It seems that I have underestimated all of you. No matter. Once the Doctor is completely in his eternal sleep, there is nothing any of you can do”, he said to the three men.

“What do you want with me anyway?”, the Doctor asked, Jamie was impressed that the old man was able to speak through the frozen lock. The faerie merely smirked.

“Come on Doctor, I know what you are. You are an impressively powerful man, the power my people could harvest from your potential future lives would be immense. We could spread out further in the stars thanks to you”

“To subjugate and slaughter billions of lives no doubt!”, the Doctor said angrily. The faerie shook his head.

“Subjugate maybe, slaughter -- no. We have no interest in killing others, we merely want to spread out.”

“And leech from other planets -- a parasite then”, the Doctor stated.

“If you like”

“Why do you need my future self then?”, the Doctor asked, “You have me, why do you need him?”

“To ensure that no other future selves can exist”.

“But that will cause a paradox! If you plan to keep me forever, how can you have my future self too?!”

“Oh, but we don’t plan on keeping  _ you  _ forever. We just need to extract your original bio-data and we will merge that with the recent post-regeneration energy that your immediate successor possesses. You have a long lifespan Doctor, what’s a few decades for you?”

“But I will remember this!”

“No you won’t. Why do you think so many humans don’t think we’re real? We subtly affect the mind -- you won’t remember a thing. Neither will your companions. We will keep them in a status until we’re done with you”

“But what about  _ his  _ companions?”, the Doctor asked. The faerie laughed cruelly.

“Oh, they are irrelevant. They’ll just be trapped here I suppose, the Eye of Orion  _ is  _ a giant faerie ring after all”.

_ No _ , Jamie thought.  _ Trapped?  _

“It’s very clever, isn’t it? Even your own companions don’t recognise you Doctor! You thought your little escape could work! But it won’t!”, the faerie mocked. The faerie then turned around to ‘attend’ to the unconscious dark haired Doctor, carefully avoiding Jamie’s knife as he walked past his three prisoners.

Dodo peered around. She was so bored! She couldn’t see any attackers, or whoever was meant to be there. She supposed the Doctor was just being more vigilant than usual. But she was sure she knew the tall young man who was a ‘saboteur’, but why she didn’t know. She decided to return to the Doctors, she highly doubted that there were any more saboteurs. So she skipped back to the patch of field that was the ‘base’.

“What do we do now, hmmm?”, the Doctor asked -- rhetorically, since neither Jamie nor Steven could answer.

“Of course, the ‘faerie’ has frozen your mouths shut. You need to concern it--  _ concentrate _ on your voices. Forget holding on, our bodies are frozen into place. Just  _ speak _ ”

Steven thought of speaking. When he had first met the Doctor it had been two years since he had spoken to another person, but he never lost his voice. Hi-fi had provided him some comfort, something he could speak to even if he couldn’t speak back. He had spoken to many people since then -- the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki… Bret, Sara…

“Katarina?”

“Yes, that’s it Steven!”, the Doctor exclaimed.

“No, Katarina was who I saw when the… ‘faerie’ came to me”, Steven said sombrely.

“Yes, poor dear”

Jamie was used to dissociating from his physical presence, he did it often when playing the bagpipes. He would become one with the music he was playing. However, there was no music. He thought of the Doctor’s recorder -- he wasn’t a  _ terrible  _ player. He certainly needed more practise but it was passable. It was his insistence on playing it at the most inappropriate times that had caused Jamie -- and Ben and Polly -- a great deal of consternation. How he missed the three of them -- even though they were all within his eyesight! He focused on his mouth, but what could he say? He listened to Steven speaking of a lassie. Who was she?

“Who’s Katarina?”, Jamie asked.

“She was a friend of ours -- she was killed”, the Doctor answered.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, was it in a war?”, Jamie followed up with. Steven had the steeliness mixed with raw vulnerability of a man who had seen war. And Jamie knew from personal experience that women and children on the losing side were never spared.

After a long pause, the Doctor answered, “Yes, you could say that”.

“If this ‘faerie’ does anything to Dodo… I don’t know what I’ll do”, Steven said angrily.

“Don’t worry, my boy. He won’t harm her -- if only to maintain the timeline. James’s friends Ben and Polly said they met her. I’m far more concerned about their fate than hers”

Dodo saw the Doctor kneeling down, next to the unconscious dark haired Doctor. He seemed to be whispering something, what it was she couldn’t decipher.

“Doctor! I don’t think anyone else is coming!”, she shouted. The white haired man jumped.

“Don’t creep up on me like that!”, he muttered irritably. “Make yourself useful and pick up that blasted knife”. He pointed to the knife that lay near where the kilted man was frozen in place. She chuckled to herself. Steven would have a fit if he saw her with a knife.

She froze. Who was Steven?

_ You don’t know anyone called Steven _ .  _ There is a rogue knife, no-one else is here. _

Dodo shook her head and picked up the knife, she looked at it incuriously and walked back to the Doctors, completely ignoring the three frozen men.


	4. Unexpected Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie, Steven and the First Doctor are in the faerie's clutches - completely invisible to the others. How can they be saved if no-one knows that they're there?

The next few hours were the longest that Jamie had ever experienced. Completely frozen in place, with nothing that any of them could do. Their bodies were suspended somehow, so at least he hadn’t needed to relieve himself. That was a minimal comfort at best. The faerie had won. Even if Jamie had killed its two compatriots, The Doctor would be asleep forever…

Everyone else was sleeping too. Ben and Polly had returned not long after Dodo, with similar reports of ‘nothing’. Jamie was sure the faerie had played more tricks on them, since none of them were even looking at the three frozen men.

Dodo tossed and turned.

 _“No-one cares about you Dorothea”,_ her aunt’s voice sneered, _“You always were such a waste of space”_.

 _“Don’t creep up on me like that!”,_ the Doctor’s voice called out, _“I don’t want you around, you petulant child!”_. She was in darkness, like she was falling. She saw swords clashing, blood spilling. She was stuck in the middle of it all. The Doctor stared fiercely at her, snarling. His eyes started to glow…

“No!”, she whispered, “The Doctor wouldn’t do that! Would he?”. She looked around, the others were asleep -- even the Doctor. She stood up. For some reason, unbeknownst even to herself, she took the knife she had picked up.

She stood up and looked around, she couldn’t see much in the dark. It was very cold, she felt the mildew on her feet -- was it mildew? Maybe it was alien mildew?

Then, she saw a glint.

She followed the glint, it became ever brighter as she followed it. The glint eventually became a shimmer and suddenly, three men were standing in front of her -- frozen into place. She did not recognise any of them, although the old man looked vaguely like the Doctor…

“Dodo!”, the tall young man exclaimed. She frowned.

“How do you know me?”, she asked.

“It’s me, Steven!”

“It’s no good my boy, the faerie has completely wiped her memory of you -- like how you had forgotten James”.

“James?”, Dodo asked.

“Aye, that’s me -- though people _usually_ call me Jamie”, the shorter young man replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice. It was directed at the old man rather than Dodo. He had a black eye, she wondered where he had gotten it. 

_Wait, I remember! He had tried to attack the Doctor and Steven punched him. Wait… why do I remember?_

Dodo’s head throbbed.

“Steven? Steven _Taylor_?”, she said. 

“Yes! That’s it Dodo!”, Steven said. Dodo looked to the other young man, yes… she remembered. Jamie had been with the other Doctor, along with Ben and Polly. She looked at the old man, he started to look more and more like the Doctor… wait, he _was_ the Doctor. Was he?

“Doctor?”, she asked with uncertainty. 

“Yes, my child”, he said gently, no harshness in his voice whatsoever. “Do you believe it’s me?”

“I… I don’t know”, she admitted, “You look a little like the Doctor… but you look _wrong_ ”. The Doctor huffed, not in frustration at the teenager, but with his lack of being able to move so that he could physically reassure her of his authenticity. So, the old man had to resort to words.

“Do you remember when we first met? It was one of the worst moments of my life. Everyone I cared about had gone -- even Steven -- I was so alone. I could never stay in one time or place, and I could not interfere. I had to face the fact that I could no longer share my life with anybody else. Then you entered the TARDIS, she let you come in. She knew that we needed each other -- she wanted you to see the wonders of the universe, and she wanted me to show you”. 

Dodo moved closer to the old man, his eyes were old and kind. He certainly had a steeliness to him, but ultimately she could see the gentle grandfather figure the Doctor had become to her.

“Dodo, step away from the imposter”, a cold, harsh voice commanded. Dodo turned around, the man looked _just_ like the Doctor. Properly like him now -- shorter, with a face somewhat reminiscent to an owl. Of course! She now realised who he had been impersonating! The wrongness had in fact been the truth the entire time! The teenager did _not_ step away from the Doctor.

“The knife! If the faerie touches the knife it will die!”, Jamie cried out.

Dodo’s heart began to race. _Die?_

“I… I can’t kill him”, she said.

“I’m sorry Dodo, but if you don’t then the dark haired Doctor will die, and we’ll be trapped here forever!”, Steven exclaimed. Slightly exaggerating their plight… but not by that much.

Dodo’s hands felt clammy. The imposter’s eyes glowed and his face contorted into a cruel snarl. Dodo held up the knife in front of her.

“You wouldn’t hurt me, would you Dodo?”, he asked, half taunting and half with genuine worry. Dodo shook her head.

“No…”, she said. Her hands trembled. She shut her eyes. If she didn’t do this then her friends could die. It was selfish of her to be so squeamish. All she had to do was stab a man who looked just like the Doctor. Even if he was acting less and less like him. She looked back to Steven, he had tried to protect her during her travels with him and the Doctor. And now he was frozen and almost invisible. And she could save him! She thought of her time in the Wild West. She had held Doc Holliday at gunpoint! She could do it for Steven’s sake, couldn’t she?

“Dodo, you don’t know what you’re doing!”, the imposter yelled, vainly.

“Yes I do!”

The teenage girl lunged herself to the faerie, with such speed and dexterity that Jamie was in awe. Once the knife had penetrated the being, there was a bright light and a high pitched wail. 

The three men were released from their prisons and collapsed to the floor.

“Ow!”, Jamie yelped. He pulled himself up and then helped up the white haired Doctor.

“Thank you James”, the old man said once he stood up. Steven had already rushed over to a shaking Dodo and the dead ‘body’. The Doctor’s features faded away until all that was left was the same white ethereal seeming beings as the other faeries. But it was thankfully dead.

Dead. He… although Dodo wasn’t completely sure anymore, was _dead_ . Of course she knew the _real_ Doctor was alive and well. But, she could see _someone_ lying dead on the floor. Because of _her_ . She had _killed_ someone. Someone evil, yes. But… she had caused the _end_ of someone’s _life_! Dodo’s knees wobbled, if Steven hadn’t had his arms around her shoulders she likely would have collapsed. Then, she began to weep.

The Doctor picked up his walking stick.

“Ah, I’d wondered where this had got to”, he mused. No-one shared in his laughter.

“It’s alright Dodo, you had to do it. And you saved us all”, Steven said kindly, hugging the young teen. Her face pressed against his chest.

“You were a very brave lassie”, Jamie said, he was about to continue before deciding against it. He remembered his own loss of innocence as a lad when he had seen men executed for such petty crimes, and he remembered the first time he had taken someone’s life -- it had been a Redcoat of course -- but the killing had left him no joy, he had done in desperation, not in glory. Like young Dodo had. 

“Is this what it was like for you Steven? When that dreadful thing you and the Doctor try not to talk about happened?”, the girl asked, her voice only slightly blubbering.

“Yes. Not exactly the same, but yes. The best solution being something so brutal is always a bitter pill to swallow”, the space pilot answered.

“Aye, I understand that. And understand that it’s good to be upset, it’s something ye should talk about. I never realised this until I travelled with the Doctor”, Jamie said. Steven raised an eyebrow at the Scot, but said nothing.

“I… I don’t know if I want to talk about it now. But I will. Once we’re back in the TARDIS!”, she said, with a little bit of her more usual enthusiasm.

“Yes, of course my child! I think it would do us all the world of good!”, the Doctor said. “Now, let’s find my future self before it’s too late!”

Dodo and the Doctor led the way, even though the others weren’t all too far away. Just before Jamie could follow, Steven took him aside.

“Thank you, for what you said to Dodo. I’m not the most comforting person, I never really know what to say”, he said.

“Aye, it’s fine. It’s something I’ve had to get better at. I think Dodo will fare better than us though, she actually cried. Which is what yer meant to do”, Jamie said.

“So you know what it’s like to suppress all of your feelings because that’s easier than dealing with them?”

“Oh, aye. More than I should. Make sure Dodo doesn’t do the same”.

“Oh definitely!”, Steven exclaimed. The two men gave each other a last glance of mutual understanding before running off to catch up with the others.

Jamie could feel his body aching a fair bit as he ran behind Steven, his multiple knocks and falls had done more than he would like to admit -- a mistake, he knew. Whatever the extent of his injuries, he was going to have more than just a black eye once this ordeal was over. If it would be over, the faerie may have been defeated but the Doctor was still under a spell.

Could they break him out of it?


	5. Fairy Tale Clichés and Farewells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The faerie has been defeated, but can Jamie save his Doctor?

Polly’s eyes flickered. In her dream she saw a bright light, the intensity was nothing she had seen before. It was so bright that it forced her up.

Darkness. 

Well, more like  _ very  _ early dawn. 

She rubbed her eyes to see better, the Doctor was still sleeping -- or perhaps still stuck in a coma. Ben had also woken up suddenly. Dodo and the… original Doctor were missing -- as well as Steven and Jamie? She rubbed her head.

“Ben, what’s happened? I feel like I’ve suddenly remembered something, but I’m not sure what I was supposed to have forgotten”, she said. Ben nodded.

“Me too Duchess... ‘ang about. Where are the others? It's not like the Doc, y’know the old Doc, to just wander off in the night!”, Ben said, with as much confusion. He felt the bruise on his forehead. “Jamie really shoved me ‘ard on the floor”, Ben muttered.

“Why would he do that?”, Polly asked. “He had been acting strangely, like when he tried to stab the old Doctor and… wait, he disappeared then. Yet we didn’t ask where he had gone!”

“Yeah, we didn’t! ‘Ang on Duchess, didn’t the bloke who punched Jamie in the face disappear too?”. Polly nodded.

“Yes! He did, ‘Steven’ is what Dodo called him. Where did  _ he  _ get off to? And where’s Dodo for that matter?”

“I guess she’s with the Doctor”, Ben mused.

“Yes, that seems likely. But why are we wondering about them, and not Jamie and Steven? It’s like we had forgotten about them… wait, we  _ did  _ forget”

“Look, don’t worry about it Duchess. Maybe they’ll come back? We can’t really leave our Doctor on ‘is own right now. If they aint back by light, I’ll go look for ‘em”.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. I’ll stay on watch, you get some rest”.

Just as Ben had settled himself to get some sleep, four figures were running towards the pair. Dodo was leading the way. He grumbled at the disturbance -- though at least he wouldn’t have to go looking for them.

“My dear, you don’t need to run quite so quickly”, the white haired Doctor huffed. He sounded a bit… different to how he had earlier, and yet sounded more  _ right  _ to the young sailor.

“But- but we need tae see if the Doctor is okay! The faerie wanted to put him into an everlasting sleep! It may be too late!”, Jamie exploded. The young Scot rushed over to the still unconscious Doctor.

Ben looked to Dodo, who looked rather pale.

“Okay, can someone tell us what the ‘ell ‘as been ‘appenin’?! What is Jamie bangin’ on about?”

Ben and Polly were simultaneously aghast and intrigued as the white haired Doctor related the rather bizarre events that had transpired. Polly had hugged Dodo tightly when she found out that the poor girl had been forced to kill the… faerie? Arguably, the biggest shock for Ben and Polly was that  _ Jamie  _ had known exactly what had happened and what to do with the Doctor himself being a little out of sorts with the whole thing.

“It seems we’ve underestimated ‘im”, Ben admitted, looking over to his Scottish friend -- who was knelt down besides the unconscious Doctor.

“Yes, if it hadn’t been for your young Scots friend, we would have all been stuck here forever”, Steven said, he placed a hand behind his head. “I feel bad for punching him now, all of this could have been avoided if I hadn’t”.

“To be fair, how were you to know the man you thought was the Doctor was actually a… supernatural being in disguise?”, Polly said. She shuddered. “Aliens were strange enough, are you to tell me that faeries and other magical things are real too?”

“Well my dear, they aren’t necessarily two different things”, the Doctor mused.

Jamie completely ignored the conversation going on, he was more focused on his sleeping Doctor. He stroked the funny wee chappie’s face. He looked so peaceful, not dead at all. Jamie could even hear his strange heartbeat -- or  _ hearts _ beat as the Doctor would put it. There  _ must  _ be something Jamie could do.

Jamie flinched as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry about that Jamie”, Polly said kindly -- in Gaelic, “He’s been like that for a while now”. Wait, Polly knew who he was now.

“When did the faerie’s magic wear off?”, Jamie asked. Polly paused, suppressing a giggle. Jamie knew that faeries and magic had become obscure knowledge by Polly and Ben’s time. They didn’t even think they were real.

“I think immediately after Dodo killed it, why?”, she said.

“Because maybe… I dunno… if the magic wore off for ye immediately then it should… but it hasnae…”

“Well, the Doctor  _ did  _ get a much stronger blast of it than us. Maybe he just needs more time?”. Jamie said nothing, there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t cause his heart to break.

For the next few hours, everyone slept. Except for Jamie. He offered to keep first watch and didn’t bother waking Ben when it was his turn. If he slept, the Doctor could disappear from him forever. That’s what faeries did. Even if the faerie was dead, it could have done one last spell in revenge. As long as Jamie was awake, that wouldn’t happen.

Eventually, the others awakened. Polly tutted at the obviously tired Jamie.

“Jamie! You haven’t slept a wink, have you?”, she asked. He shook his head.

“No, I cannae sleep. The Doctor will vanish if I do”, he answered. The others glanced at each other in confusion. 

“Why do you think that?”, Steven asked, sympathetically.

“Because the faerie could have placed down one last curse before it died! Do none of ye ken anythin’ about faeries?”

“Well I know that fairies are magical creatures”, Ben said, “And that they’re in fairy tales… ‘ang about. Aren’t there fairy tales where someone is in a permanent sleep?”

“Yes, and the kiss of a handsome prince is what’s needed to wake up the fair maiden!”, Polly exclaimed.

“Like in Sleeping Beauty!”, Dodo added. Jamie frowned, he’d never heard of these folk tales -- he supposed they were English.

“A fair  _ maiden?  _ No Dodo, in Sleeping Beauty the Prince of Peladon travelled through the stars until he reached the abandoned ship  _ Rose Thorn  _ and discovered the handsome Earthman who had become stuck in a perma-statis that the kinetic energy of a kiss cured!”, Steven protested. The others looked to the space pilot from their future strangely, Steven rolled his eyes.

“A kiss?”, Jamie asked. “Kin-etic energy, what’s that?”.

“Well James, it is the energy that comes from movement. Any movement, but a kiss is sometimes a fairly shocking action to the recipient. So it is a mixture of kinetic energy and a sudden shock that would have awoken the Earthman in that version of Sleeping Beauty”.

“Would it work now?”, Jamie asked.

“I… I don’t know”, the Doctor admitted. Jamie nodded. That wasn’t a  _ no _ . He instinctively stroked his Doctor’s face.

“Wait… are you going to kiss the Doctor?”, Dodo asked. 

“Well, I’ve no’ done it before, Jamie admitted.

“That’s a surprise”, Ben added sardonically. Jamie shot him a glare as Polly elbowed the sailor.

“But if ye say that faeries can cause a forever sleep that can be cured by a kiss then one of us will have to try”, the Highlander added. Nobody questioned why it had to be  _ Jamie _ . 

Jamie’s hands trembled. He was going to  _ kiss  _ the Doctor! He had dreamed of doing this many times. He had long since let go of the feeling of sinfulness that his feelings had brought. Instead it was the dread of those feelings being unreciprocated that had caused him such anxiety. The Doctor was such a strange, wonderful man. He wouldn’t love a mere piper. 

But this was to save the Doctor. It didn’t have to mean anything. Of course, it meant everything to Jamie.

Dodo felt tense, as did everybody else. Surely this wouldn’t really work? Fairies weren’t really  _ real _ ? But then… she had just killed one. But that was an alien that called itself that -- actual  _ magic  _ wasn’t real? But then, what was magic except for science one didn’t understand? But… it couldn’t work? Jamie was just clinging onto any hope he could muster.

“What if it doesn’t work?”, she whispered to the Doctor.

“I don’t know my child”, the white haired man whispered back, “I don’t know”. She glanced at the others, they all seemed as skeptical as her. She looked at Jamie -- even he didn’t seem completely certain.

_ This must work. I must break the faerie’s curse. _

Jamie shut his eyes to suppress his tears. He knew the Doctor’s face enough to feel around. So, he gently cupped the dark haired man’s chin, and gently kissed him.

It was so silent, one could have heard a pin drop.

The dark haired man murmured, and Jamie could feel the Doctor’s body trembling. The Scot opened his eyes and saw flickering eyes. Suddenly, a bright white glow emitted from the Doctor.

“Jamie?”, he muttered weakly. 

“Aye! It’s me!”, Jamie beamed. His joy was so absolute, the shocked gasps coming from behind completely went over his head. He almost collapsed in relief but kept himself stable for his Doctor’s sake.

“Your eye…”, the Doctor said. Jamie shrugged.

“Oh dinnae worry about that! What matters is that yer alright!”

Jamie helped the man he had just kissed up with Ben quickly taking the other side.

“So, ‘ow was it?”, Ben asked slyly. 

“How was what?”, the Doctor asked, confused.

“The kiss -- Jamie kissed you to wake you up. And it bloody worked! Turns out fairy tales are true after all!”

The Doctor looked to his young companion with confusion, Jamie would have glared at Ben if his face wasn’t so completely red with embarrassment.

“So, you’re my first replacement are you? You seem familiar, but I can’t quite place where. Something about a dandy and a clown…”, the white haired Doctor mused, rubbing his chin. “Oh but never mind that now! Hmm, why are your clothes so baggy? We seem about the same height”

“Thank you!”, Jamie exclaimed. The dark haired Doctor furrowed his impressive eyebrows.

“Yes, so we are. I don’t know why I ever thought otherwise -- we’re both about 5’9” aren’t we? That faerie was very convincing, weren’t they?”

“Well, not to Jamie!”, Dodo said. The Doctor smiled sadly at the man who had just kissed him.

“No, not to Jamie”.

Polly was rather disappointed not to hear Jamie’s side of the story as the others recounted what had happened to the Doctor on their way back to the TARDIS. Dodo apparently had a good memory and could remember where her TARDIS was. Jamie was so quiet. Even Dodo had been more eager to discuss what had happened, and she had been the one forced to kill the faerie leader. 

Ben was flabbergasted at all that had happened. Jamie and the old Doctor had been sent to a…  _ faerie realm _ ? It was rather a lot to take in, but then if he could believe that the Doctor could change his face -- why not this? The thing that was arguably more surprising to him was that the younger -- younger- _ looking  _ anyway -- Doctor was genuinely confused about what had happened. As if it was beyond even  _ his  _ knowledge.

Thankfully, the chairs they had left when having their picnic were in eyesight from the earlier TARDIS.

“Bye everyone!”, the teen said, “I look forward to meeting you for the first time again!”. She rushed into the TARDIS. Steven rolled his eyes.

“It was nice meeting everyone, hope it all goes well… I will be alright though? Ben and Polly didn’t mention meeting me”, he said nervously.

“Oh don’t worry Steven, you have a bright future ahead”, the dark haired Doctor said. Steven smiled in relief and followed Dodo into the TARDIS.

“Well, it’s good to know that my future is in good hands”, the white haired Doctor said to his younger yet older self. “I’m not sure if I approve of romancing young Highlanders but that’s your affair, not mine”. 

“That’s… not what’s happening”, the Doctor rebutted, although his blushing face indicated that this was not strictly the truth.

“If you say so, hmm, if you say so”, the white haired man replied, giggling.

“Goodbye everyone, goodbye. Until I meet you all again”. The Doctor walked into his TARDIS, and the four remaining travellers all heard the familiar vworp it made as it faded away.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Second Doctor sadly muses on the events he slept through

It had taken them another hour or so to reach their TARDIS. Polly opted to take two of the chairs, with Ben taking the other two. She could see that Jamie was really exhausted, and he didn’t even protest her taking the chairs so he was probably even more tired than he seemed.

“I’m gonna have a lie down”, the young Scot exclaimed as the four reached their TARDIS. He lumbered heavily from the console room into his bedroom, stubbornly refusing a hand -- as usual.

“Poor thing, from what the others told us he really went through a lot”, Polly said.

“Yeah, and this was meant to be relaxin’! I suppose it was interesting”, Ben added. The Doctor nodded grimly as he piloted the TARDIS away. The three said nothing for a few moments and Ben began to put away the chairs, and then to have a shower. It had been several days since any of them had been near one.

“I remember”.

“Remember what?”, Polly asked.

“What happened -- or, what happened from the other perspective”.

“The other perspective?”

“Yes, well you see Polly we aren’t meant to see our own futures so once the incident is over our brains protectively cause us to forget it until it has happened again”.

“So… even though it had happened to you before you didn’t remember what happened until it happened this time!”

“Yes, exactly”

“But then why didn’t Dodo know me and Ben when we first met her? There weren’t two Dodo’s here?”

The Doctor wringed his hands, indicating that he probably didn’t know.

“Well, my theory is that Steven and Dodo also forget -- to protect his,  _ my  _ mind. So that they didn’t bring it up accidentally. That would have caused havoc to my memories! I imagine once they had left the TARDIS they likely did remember this happening. Although, I’m not sure whether remembering would be the better option for them”, he explained. 

Polly nodded, getting the gist -- she hoped.

“So what do you remember then?”, she asked. The Doctor looked away sadly.

“I remember Jamie being so  _ worried  _ about me. I remember him being so wonderful and brave and resourceful. I remember being touched by his unrelenting faith in me. I remember him being so…  _ desperate _ . And it was because I had doubted his judgement! He had seen through the faerie immediately and I just brushed it off as ignorance! That was so judgemental and callous of me! How could he love someone who just disregards him like that!”

Polly tried very hard not to suppress a smirk.

“Doctor, Jamie  _ kissed  _ you to wake you up -- eagerly I should add. I wouldn’t worry about that”, Polly said. The Doctor looked down and tapped his thumbs. Polly could see that he had said more than he had intended.

“Look, why don’t you try to make it up to him if you feel it is your fault? Cook him dinner? You know, a  _ proper  _ dinner? In the kitchen?”, she suggested. “I’m going to have a shower”.

Several hours later, in the TARDIS dining room, Polly was happy to see that the Doctor and Jamie were back to being their usual jokey and affectionate selves. More so than usual. Perhaps an inevitable  _ conversation  _ had happened? She sat down contentedly at the table next to Ben. He grimaced.

“The Doctor says this was  _ your  _ idea?”, he said. She frowned.

“Yes, I thought it would be nice”, she said. She instantly regretted those words as the Doctor eagerly presented their dinner. Ben raised an eyebrow as his sort-of girlfriend.

“Pol, we’re ‘avin ‘aggis”.


End file.
